Stan2009 ✭

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  November 22, 2025 12:52PM
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  Stan2009

  A growing scam targets beginners through self-published books on platforms like Amazon, purporting to be comprehensive guides to coin collecting, error identification, or valuation. These books often plagiarize photos of coin errors from the internet, lift information from legitimate numismatic sites, and fabricate author biographies—sometimes with AI-generated photos—to appear credible.

  My book which was first launched in 2009 is now one of over 400 books on Amazon. I have lost almost all my sales to these fraudulent books.

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  November 22, 2025 9:32AM
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  Stan2009

  I worked with Heritage Auctions to get 10 books removed, but then they decided not to pursue others. The ten books were written by the person discovered using the exact same reviewers. There is a pattern of using farming to collect reviews. Samuel Archer is the top seller in a collectible category and this book received over 467 reviews in three weeks. The book is from internet sources. I am sacrificing my own books to do this.

  Quick Chart: Explosion of These Scam Error-Coin Books (2024–2025)
  Monthly count of new fraudulent/AI-generated titles added to Amazon:
  Month
  Number of new scam titles launched
  Jan–Jun 2024
  12
  Jul–Dec 2024
  48
  Jan 2025
  18
  Feb 2025
  22
  Mar 2025
  31
  Apr 2025
  29
  May 2025
  33
  Jun 2025
  41
  Jul 2025
  67 ← peak (summer “error coin season”)
  Aug 2025
  52
  Sep 2025
  41
  Oct 2025
  36
  Nov 2025 (so far)
  28

  Total so far: 458+ titles according to a detailed search. I tracked the 228 worst offenders, but the actual wave is roughly double that when including deleted/stealth listing

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  November 22, 2025 5:12AM
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  Stan2009 earned the Photogenic badge.

  Little things like uploading a profile picture make the community a better place. Thanks!

  November 22, 2025 4:57AM